Mouse with bald spot

Question
QUESTION: Hi. I have 3 mice, 2 older mice (1 female - mom and 1 male - dad) and 1 baby girl mouse, about 3 months old. Last week mom started scratching and bleeding. I have checked her and cannot see any mites or fleas. I have given her some vitamin mouse water which hasn't helped. Its A LOT worse the last few days. The spot in under her right ear and near her whiskers on the right side. I think that side is too sore now because she is going to the other side and that is looking VERY red. I have a theory - she had hot spots from too much protein but i have since cut out all of it to see if it helps. I've read that even though mice may not be itchy any more, its kind of a habit. How do i stop her mutilating herself. Im worried she is going to get an infection.... maybe even die. Please help??

ANSWER: Hi Kat,

Mites are tiny and might not be necessarily seen, so since you've tried pretty much everything else and it hasn't improved, I'd give mite treatments a try.  It isn't particularly expensive and it should only take two treatments to be rid of them!  For it to work, you'll need to treat every mouse in the cage with her, throw out/replace any absorbent toys, and thoroughly wash every bit of the cage at the same time as treatment.  Mites can sometimes come in on bedding, so freeze all new bedding for at least 24 hours before thawing it for use.  Lastly, I've been told by another expert that mites are typically present in very small amounts that don't cause much of a problem, but that some mice can be particularly susceptible to problems with them, either by genetics, a lowered immune system, or a lack of someone to help them groom.

Here are some terrific instructions Natasha has written for how to give the medication, which you can find at most pet stores or online:  http://en.allexperts.com/q/Mice-3824/2009/2/Mouse-mites.htm

There are a couple of other things that would pop into mind if the mite treatment has no effect, such as an allergy, fungal infection, or something in her environment causing a nervous tick, but none of these match as well as mites.  In the meantime you can dab tiny amounts of triple antibiotic ointment (such as neosporin) on any particularly scabby areas to keep them clean and help her skin out a bit.  She doesn't need vitamins, but she does need her full rounded diet yet until her skin gets better - unless she has an allergy to her food, the nutrients will help her body fight off any potential infections.

Let me know how it goes, and if you still can't stop her itchiness!  Hope she feels better soon!  :)
-Tam

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Tam

Thank you for your reply. We have pretty much tried everything listed above. Its to the point that the whole side of her right part of her head has been scratched away. We have used mite treatment on her and her companion, with no success. He is fine, but she is slowly getting worse. I have a fear that she will soon scratch out her eye. The poor thing, she is all scratching, and now its at the point that she is skittish. We are trying to keep her occupied with new toys and climbing equipment, but nothing seems to be working. I have a feeling it started off as depression (we sold her babies) and now shes itchy because she is healing. We have done everything, and I think its at a stage now where all we can do is try and keep her as comfortable as possible. Should I try mite treatment again (even though she is really raw) or shall I try the ointment?
Thank you for your time, it is really appreciated :)

Answer
Since it sounds like it's getting pretty bad, I'd actually recommend heading in to a professional vet before giving up and just making her comfortable.  A vet can do a skin scraping and tell for absolutely sure what the problem is and how to treat it - everything you can do at home is guesswork and process of elimination.  You can use triple antibiotic ointment to protect scabby areas from infection at any point, even during mite treatment, so there's no reason to wait on that.

Whether or not to retry the mite treatment depends on how you felt it worked the first time - if there was anything in the cage, or any cagemates, that were not treated simultaneously, if the bottle wasn't shaken well first, if the treatment wasn't repeated to get the eggs, etc., it might not work correctly and you might not see improvement.  If everything was done to your satisfaction though and she was still just as itchy as before, then there wouldn't be much point to repeating it.  There are still the other possibilities, however, such as fungus, allergies, or other issues which could take time to uncover and different treatments entirely.  Since you're concerned about infection, taking her to a vet will get her fixed up the fastest - she doesn't have to live itchy.

Best of luck!
-Tam